Another month has gone by and we just don't understand where it went! It seems like yesterday we were at the hospital, and now we have been home for an entire month! Brianne has been wonderful, loves her brother and every day she wants to hold him in her lap (at least once, sometimes more). It is quite a blessing to have a daughter take to her younger brother so well, we couldn't be happier.
However, don't let her charm over her brother fool you, we are definitely into the terrible twos with our fit throwing when things are not going our way. Whether it be not allowed to watch any more television, or not wanting to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or getting dressed, the fits occur (we have an Auntie that can attest to this, as Auntie Amber got to see one of these fits during a Skype session). And if things couldn't be more frantic, we have nightmares or night terrors to deal with now too.
Don't be alarmed with the terrible twos and the nightmares/night terrors, as we have days full of fun surprises, that all but make it worthwhile. Brianne is now in the "I love to sing songs" phase. We are constantly singing songs that go with our television shows, the CDs, and even the radio. Car rides are no longer a quiet ride, we are now entertained with Brianne singing along, and if it ever is quiet, you can be certain that she fell asleep.
Allow me to share one of our entertaining moments with you of Brianne talking to Oscar the Grouch on her Elmo cell phone.
Brianne: Hello
Oscar the Grouch: Hi, today is a fine day for getting dirty
Brianne: Mumble Jumbo, not quite sure what she is saying, but she is talking a lot!
Oscar the Grouch (interrupting): Telling her something about his day
Brianne: Hey! I'm talking to you.
Oscar the Grouch (interrupting still): Still going on about his day
Brianne: Hey! Stop!, I'm talking to you.
Oscar the Grouch: Oh Boy! We lost the trash!
Brianne: I'm talking to you...wait, Oh No! Dadda, we lost the trash!
.... much more that I can't quite remember, I was laughing to hard ...
Seriously, I wish I had that on video, it would be an AFV winner! Now this next one is more of a, we need to figure out how to teach Brianne that she is allergic.
Mommy: What do you want for Breakfast?
Brianne: Eggs
Mommy: You can't have eggs, you are allergic
Brianne: Eggs
Mommy: You can't, you will get sick
Brianne: No, I want eggs!
Mommy finally got her to go for Oatmeal, and so she pours the oatmeal into a bowl, and starts to warm the water (turning away for just a second), next thing she knows, Brianne has the bowl at the table and is eating it dry *sigh*.
Of all the things we can use to describe our two year old, we can't use little. She is 36 inches tall and in size 4T! She skipped the 3T sizes all together (good thing we got those from friends by the bag full). At 36 inches tall, she is now tall enough to leverage herself to open the refrigerator (joy!), easily get things that are on the counter tops (without a chair!), and can now reach up on more book shelves that what we would like! So Mommy and Daddy have been scrambling to move objects to higher locations and finding new hiding places; once we realized we can't move everything to a higher location.
On May 3rd, the Grange community got to meet Brianne, Keaten, and Kami. Brianne was being shy and bashful the whole time (at least until lunch). Keaten slept, and Kami, well she was awake and talkative as usual. Everyone enjoyed their visit and several continue to ask for updated photos. I just can't praise the community at Grange enough, they are truly a wonderful group.
So you are probably wondering, why is this titled "Life at the Zoo" and nothing up to this point is even close to zoo related. I'm glad you wondered! We got a Columbus Zoo membership and we've already made our money back (I dare you to guess what a zoo visit would cost for 2 adults, 1 child, and an infant; hint the infant is free....\$60). We've been to the zoo at least 4 times since we got the membership and every time we get to see something new (and no, we didn't spend \$240 for the membership; it was way less!). Today we got to see the polar bears do cannon balls into the water (seriously!). We got there just as they were doing an educational learning of the polar bears and the announcer wanted to get them into the water, so he threw them some food -- Brianne's jaw just about hit the floor in excitement and ah when she saw the bears jump in. We also got to see a Bald Eagle today (first time while visiting the zoo), and an Otter (another first from all of the visits). The zoo is almost always a weekend event for us.
I am sadden to say that the Robot era is over (I know you are weeping bitterly by this news, so I'll pause to let you gain your composure). Now it's not because Brianne doesn't love it, but rather she loves it too much; throwing fits when we told her "no, she needed to watch something else." After a few days we are now very happy with Backyardigans, VeggieTales, and Little Angels. What?!? You've never heard of Little Angels...well, we hadn't either. That is a gem that Grandma and Pop-Pop picked up and gave to Brianne on their latest visit and it is a wonderful show (usually covers 3 or 4 bible stories in a single show).
Following Grandma and Pop-Pop's latest visit, we took a trip back to the house in Lima to do yard work and to see if our rhubarb had grown. Well, to say the least, the weeds killed the rhubarb and were attempting to choke out the black raspberry bushes too (some of the weeds were 4 feet tall!). So we spent a LOT of time ripping them out of the garden and the swing set area. While we were there, we sold our deep freezer to a friend and they came to pick it up (let me tell you, it was FAR easier to get the freezer down stairs than to bring it back up!). Brianne decided she wanted to help, so she started down the stairs and was doing just fine until the last ......... three ......... steps. You guessed it, she thought she was at the bottom, turned around and took a step and face planted down the remaining 2 steps. She had a busted lip (about a half inch inside in her mouth, and a terrible rug burn on the outside of her chin. No stitches, but she definitely was miserable for the next few days.
Now I would hate to leave this on such a sad note. So I won't! One of Brianne's new fascinations is puzzles. She loves them! Wooden, Foam, 8 pieces, or 26 pieces, she loves them! She will sit and do puzzle after puzzle after puzzle (most of the time without your assistance). The latest favorite puzzle is a foam puzzle with the alphabet (and one with numbers) that are in the shape of an elephant. Oh, did I forget to mention that we love elephants, which was our favorite thing on our first visit to the zoo.
And to end this off, Daddy and Brianne have been having park play dates after work each week (Thank you Grange for your wonderful flexible working hours). Daddy and Brianne will go to a nearby park and just play for 30 minutes or until she is ready to go. It allows her to enjoy the slide, the stairs, the rock climbing wall, and just run around. When other kids are there, she likes to boss them around, and tell them they need to slide with her (so cute).
With that, I bide you farewell until the next time (likely a month from now).
Love,
Matt, Kami, Brianne, and Keaten